APS Behind the Lens: The Bonded Three
I own a small photographic studio setup for personal and business work in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland. Over the past 15 years I have taught myself to use my equipment and edit in Lightroom and Photoshop, while also learning from the monthly competitions at my local club to improve my work.
I now own my own businesses, Rochelle James Photography, along with RJP Retouching Service.
As a judge with the Photographic Society of Queensland and Member of Ipswich Photographic Society I am also constantly inspired by the work of the photography I see.
This image, Bonded Three, was inspired by the bond I saw between the three sisters. I posed the girls very close together and emphasised the closeness with the shroud around them. I chose a stoic look from them to portray more emotion, one more rarely seen in images of children, and giving a more sombre mood. I added dried flowers for composition and added texture.
In Photoshop, I darkened the image and masked off only the faces to bring more attention to the three girls. I used frequency separation to even out skin tones and remove unwanted blemishes throughout the image. Finally, I increased the contrast in the eyes and using dodging and burning to enhance their faces.
This image has been very successful for me and had captured the judges attention in many competitions over the past year.
However the Heritage Bank Photographic Awards was the biggest win, which came with a fifteen thousand dollar prize for first place in the Open subject in 2023! ❂
